Greatest Moment

1982 - their third Lumb Cup final victory in four years.

Local Hero

The 6' 6" Roy McNairey, who played for the Police side and Lancashire Colts in the inter-war period.

Bizarre Fact

In 1913 Huddersfield-born Test greats Wilfred Rhodes, George Herbert Hirst and Schofield Haigh turned out for the Huddersfield Police side as 'ringers' in a match v Emley.

Handsome Trees and Buildings

Woodfield Park, a multi-sport arena, just off Meltham Road and situated directly opposite a cemetery, has been home to the local Police side for exactly a century.

Describing the setting in the 1980s, a club spokesman talked about the 'splendid surroundings', and two decades on very little has changed. Handsome trees, woodland and mill buildings envelop the ground on all sides, and it is no surprise that Woodfield Park has hosted its fair share of set-piece cricketing occasions.

The 'team of bobbies' was founded in 1903. As Huddersfield Borough Police, one of their first fixtures was against Emley, and this turned into an annual event.

The 1913 fixture is probably the most famous. The game took place right at the end of the season, on 24 September, and it became a celebrated, almost mythical occasion because the boys in blue managed to persuade the famous triumvirate of Huddersfield and Yorkshire cricketers - George Herbert Hirst, Wilfred Rhodes and Schofield Haigh - into becoming bobbies for the day. You can just imagine the reaction of the Emley cricketers when they saw the legendary trio warming up before the match!

Anyway, the Borough Police won the game comfortably: they made 102-6dec., and then bowled Emley out for 68 (with Hirst, Rhodes and Haigh no doubt among the wickets).

Gift for Recreation

Just years after, Woodfield Park was bequeathed as a gift to the Huddersfield Borough Police Section (as it was then known). The woman who donated the land was the owner of the Woodfield Estate.

The only stipulation she made was that the land should be put at the disposal of local police officers and their families for recreation. It was soon developed with sporting purposes in mind: a cricket pitch, a bowling green, a set of tennis courts, and a fitness trail (a kind of army assault course) around the perimeter of the land.

Woodfield Park wasn't the Police's first ground, but as soon as it was left to them, it became their permanent home. The club was re-formed in 1952, and came to be known simply as Police C.C.. They competed in the Evening League, before moving on to the Huddersfield Association, and at the same time they were also members of the West Yorkshire Police League. The club came of age in the late-1970s and early-1980s when it scooped an array of trophies and also formed a 2nd XI.

Throughout, the club made great play of its uniqueness. A spokesman said: 'Here at last is one club which has never thrown open its doors to friends, relatives or the general public…It is a credit to the players, throughout the club's history, that they have often competed in matches having come straight from, or going straight to, duty, after having had little or no sleep.'

Tribute to Groundsman

The Police team moved on fairly swiftly to the Huddersfield Central League. Today, their ground is probably one of the biggest in the league, and also one of the most professional-looking. Woodfield Park CC secretary Robert Gooderham says: 'The playing area is a tribute to the groundsman, Mike Elworthy. There may be just a slight slope down to the Meltham Road side of the ground, but it's a good size and pretty flat. The wicket is pretty fair too - it's a good batting track, but there's also a little bit in it for the bowler.'

The only blot on the horizon is the pavilion, built in the first half of the last century. It was a distinguished-looking construction in its day, but was condemned in 2000, and there are plans afoot to replace it with a new structure (that would also incorporate a scorebox).

The ground lies closely adjacent to the Armitage Bridge ground - 40 yards from boundary to boundary, according to one informed estimate - and boasts one unusual feature: a small river, or beck, runs under the playing area on the Meltham Road side. It also hosts Evening League cricket - Allen Priests and Rotorball play their home games there - and a couple of Almondbury Casuals fixtures each season.

Juggling Work Commitments

Over the years, local policemen have had to juggle work commitments with the demands of local league cricket, and on occasions the two have come into conflict.

For example, on 18 March 1963 the minutes of the Association stated: 'Police representative announced doubts of ability to fulfil early season fixtures due to football duties'.

Likewise, the Association meeting on 19 March 1984 recorded that: 'The Police requested a cancellation of the game on the opening day of the season because all Police leave had been cancelled due to Leeds United playing Huddersfield Town at Leeds Road.' Such a local-derby occasion would have had many local bobbies on the beat, and some also on the terraces (either working or watching the game). And so it was natural that the Woodfield Park authorities would ask for a postponement.

We are also told that in April 1962 the Police were fined for fielding only six players in a match against Birchencliffe; again, given the month of the year in which this punishment was meted out, it is likely that a local soccer match, and the policing of it, would have been the root cause of the problem. In May 1964 it was another sport to blame. The relevant minute read: 'Oakes CYC and Police permitted to re-arrange match on 23 May 1964 due to Eastern Division Rugby Cup Final.'

However, the Woodfield Park cricket scene does not revolve solely around local league competition. There is also healthy intra-police rivalry. One famous fixture took place on 12 August 1959 between 'CID' and 'Uniform'. The former rattled up 75; the latter reached their target for the loss of only five wickets. And then there are the occasional matches against other police forces. For instance, in the inter-war years, Huddersfield Police would take on the might of the Leeds City Police - with West Yorkshire bragging rights very much at stake.

Holme Valley Festival

The Police XI was also invited to take part in evening cricket festivals organised by near-neighbours Armitage Bridge CC. Other teams from down the Holme Valley would also compete (Hall Bower, Thongsbridge, Holmfirth) and with adjoining cricket grounds to take advantage of (Armitage Fold and Woodfield Park), the sides would fight it out until a winner emerged.

In terms of players and personalities, two cricketing policemen dominate the history of Woodfield Park: Thomas Deakin, who eventually lost his life at Flanders in 1917, and Roy McNairey, a former Lancashire CCC colt, who once took 6-24 against Golcar.

Today, Woodfield Park run a 1st XI and 2nd XI, but do not enter any junior teams in the local leagues. Gooderham explains: 'There are usually five or six serving bobbies in every side we put out, but it doesn't necessarily follow that they're all fit and agile - as policemen are supposed to be. There's a lot of waiting around in vehicles these days, so some of us are not as mobile as we'd like to be!' But either way, the current crop of policemen-cricketers continue to fly the flag at Woodfield Park.